Symptoms And Treatment Of Older Adults

There are two types of confusion, physiological and situational. The physiological confusion causes are linked with some of the processes of aging. As blood vessels become ‘furred up’ and the walls harden. Oxygen and nourishments f ail to pass in the required amount to the brain cells. These cells die starved. Unlike other tissues brain issues does not repair itself and hence the capacity of brain reduces. Hearing or sight difficulties can also cause physiological confusion in elders. Loss of hearing and increase of tinnitus affecting balance, reduced metabolism causing poor appetite and osteoporosis and fear of falling are also examples of physiological confusions. Change in the living environment and places cause situational confusion. The person loses his personnel identity and find it difficult to cope up with the new place, people and relationships.

As we age, our brain and nervous system go through natural changes. An aging adult may experience memory loss, decreased touch sensation, change in the perception of pain, change in sleep pattern, decreased coordination and increased risk for infection (Ignatavicius, 2013, p. 912) .

From birth, the body and mind go through physical and cognitive changes that human beings will have to adapt to throughout life. Some individuals lose mental and physical abilities age they age that allow them to live a normal lifestyle. The most common age-related physical changes include hearing impairment, weakening vision, and the increasing probability of multiple chronic conditions such as arthritis, hypertension, heart disease, diabetes, and osteoporosis (Abeles, 1998). The most common cognitive changes associated with normal aging are short-term, or primary, memory loss, long-term, or secondary, memory loss, and the overall levels of performance in sustained attention. Other issues relative to aging and cognitive memory impairments are anxiety disorder, panic disorder, chronic pain, and mood disorders. This issue may cause several social, medical and family problems as individual

Elderly people physically slow down and have lower energy levels. There are changes in the body systems and organs that can usually result in all types of

Older adults need the list to be presented at a slower speed in order to improve recall. This is because older adults experience a slowing down in the speed of processing. This is mostly due to the fact older adults also experience a decrease in the amount of dopamine, serotonin, and acetylcholine. These three are all important in high cognitive functioning.

This report talks about Maggie, A 62 year old lady who recently loss her husband and since then she been suffering from early dementia, which makes her leave her home in the night as she is confused between day and night and also forgetful. Maggie is extremely active and her family are concerned of this change of behaviour and they worried that she might forget to take her medication on time and skipping meals.

As people age, they develop dental problems, which lead to nutritional issues. Cognitive function decline affects memory, decision making, conversing, and problem solving. In addition, falls occur with mental status disturbances. Sleep

Lenander et.al, (2015) define polypharmacy as the consequences of multiple concurrent medications taken to primarily manage existing health problems such as hypertension and diabetes. Polypharmacy is a typical problem among older adults. Currently, adults within the age bracket of 65 years and above take five or more medications on a weekly basis, 57% of which are women and 44% are men. Besides, the prevalence of polypharmacy is about 12% of both women and men that take ten medications and above per week (Lenander et.al, 2015). Understanding this issue on multiple levels is essential in helping to decrease the prevalence of polypharmacy and medication errors. This problem is a leading cause of many negative outcomes associated with healthcare. Not only physical and psychological problems for the patient but also social and economical problems for the healthcare industry as a whole.

satellite cell numbers. When the dosage of GDF11 injection was increased by 3 folds, the

Cognitive aging is worthy of study for many reasons. The more knowledge that is uncovered about cognitive aging, the closer to possibly finding ways to slow the process down, decrease the intensity of the symptoms, or maybe prevent it all together. If there are possible ways of doing so it is important to find them. The “what” and “when” of cognitive aging has made advances, but the “why”, “where”, and “how” are still to be uncovered. We further our knowledge of the “why”, “where”, or “how”, or uncover the full truth, without knowing the full truth about the “what” and “when”. Finding out more about one might lead to learning more about another. Expanding our knowledge on cognitive aging has the potential to increase someone’s quality of life. It has the potential to increase that family member’s quality of life. Cognitive aging effects more than the victim, it effects their

As people grow older, they develop dental problems which lead to nutritional intake issues. Cognitive function declines affecting memory, decision making, conversing, and problem solving. In addition, falls can occur with mental status disturbances. Lack of social interaction, depression, and anxiety also crop up in the elderly. Sleep patterns are altered by restless legs, snoring, and disrupted breathing sequences. At times, pain can be constant from arthritis, osteoarthritis, or other medical issues (Tabloski, 2014).

As individuals age changes occur physiologically that are part of normal aging. These changes occur in all organ systems and can impact an individual’s quality of life. The changes related to aging can be attributed to an individual’s genetic make up, lifestyle, physical activity, and dietary lifestyle. Being able to differentiate between normal changes in aging against disease process is important because it can help clinicians develop a plan of care (Boltz, Capezuti, Fulmer, & Zwicker, 2012). Creating an accurate plan of care for older adults will greatly impact their quality of life.

As age increases, we can expect some loss of heart, lung, joint, and sexual functioning. Some loss of brain cells and mental efficiency is a normal part of

Patient factors include age, gender, education, ethnicity, socio-economic status and how much patient knows about cancer and cancer symptoms. Age appears to be the major determinants of cancer survival. Cancer survival rate for almost all types of cancers decrease significantly with age. Research has shown that elderly patients generally do not receive the same standard of treatments and care, as compared to younger patients. Elderly patients are also reported to be less likely to receive surgery and the most effective treatment than younger people irrespective of the co-morbidities. This is because healthcare professionals tend to make decisions based on the assumptions that older patients will not be able to cope with certain treatments

Chronic disease and conditions are usually defined as those diseases which last for more than six months and which have a severe effect on the life of the individuals (Chronic Conditions and Injury, para.1). While chronic diseases can affect people of all ages and demographics, these types of diseases are very often found in the elderly. Chronic disease are also characterized by "…multiple risk factors, long latency periods, a prolonged course of illness and functional impairment or disability" (Key indicators of progress for chronic disease and associated determinants, 2011, p. 1). Chronic disease is also found to be more prevalent in the ageing demographic of most countries.